PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The leaders of three of Rhode Island’s public-employee unions took exception Monday with a new Gina Raimondo-for-governor campaign ad in which the state treasurer says of the 2011 pension-overhaul: “In the end, most of our changes

Katherine Gregg Journal Political Writer kathyprojo

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The leaders of three of Rhode Island’s public-employee unions took exception Monday with a new Gina Raimondo-for-governor campaign ad in which the state treasurer says of the 2011 pension-overhaul: “In the end, most of our changes were agreed to by every union except one.’’

One after another, the union leaders called this statement a misrepresentation of their positions in the high-stakes legal fight, pending before a Superior Court judge, over the legality of the pension-cuts that Raimondo shepherded through the General Assembly over their objections nearly three years ago.

And they voiced their objections on a day that began with a number of Raimondo backers, including the vice president of another wing of organized labor – the Rhode Island Building Trades Council – issuing statements of their own, in her support.

“Despite the treasurer’s recollections, exhortations and assertations, here’s what I have never forgotten,’’ said J. Michael Downey, president of the largest state employees union: Council 94, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees.

“Council 94, AFSCME vigorously opposed the pension changes. The treasurer’s process was a farce,’’ Downey said Monday. “Our ideas and suggested amendments were ignored. She broke her word about taking care of people with the least amount of pension benefits, in her words: ‘the little guy’. She harmed many municipal employees whose pensions were healthy.’’

The Raimondo camp said the statement in the new TV ad refers to the near-passage of the proposed settlement of the pension court fight that emerged from court-ordered mediation. The proposed deal was sunk by a police union, under all-or-nothing rules that required the approval of every one of the plaintiffs.

While Raimondo backed the proposed settlement, saying that it preserved most of the taxpayer savings, Downey recalled that she was initially “opposed to mediation and had to be encouraged by the judge.’’ And while his union leadership endorsed the proposed settlement, he noted that “a significant amount of our membership voiced objections and voted against the settlement.’’

Paul Reed, president of the Rhode Island State Association of Firefighters, also took issue with Raimondo’s claim of union support.

“She never negotiated with us on any of these things,’’ Reed said. And “what amazes me,’’ he said, is that the proposed settlement that emerged from the closed-door mediation was “significantly better’’ for the workers than the plan she pitched to state lawmakers as “the only plan to save this place from financial disaster.’’

“So I am a little confused her taking credit for this,’’ he said.

All three union leaders are part of a coalition backing Raimondo’s closest competitor in the Democratic primary race for governor: Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.

In her new one-minute ad, the treasurer looks into the camera and says: ”I’m Gina Raimondo and you might have heard about Mayor Taveras attacking pension reform, claiming I did it to enrich Wall Street. Nothing could be more wrong.’’

“For Raimondo to suggest that she is not being backed by Wall Street is ridiculous. Ridiculous,’’ chimed Philip Keefe, president of Local 580, Service Employees International Union.